Bed-stay



(No Model.)

0. BETHEA.

BED STAY.

Patented Dec. 6, 1887.

INVENTOR -6, 551% WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

Nv PETERS, FhnOo-LiQhcgr-zpiwr. Wilhinglnm D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CADE BETHEA, OF MOBILE, TEXAS.

BED-STAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 374,443, dated December 6, 1887.

Application filed August 15, 1887.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that l, CADE BETHEA, of Mobile, in the county of Tyler and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved BedStay, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a stay for holding the frame of an old or new bedstead securely together to resist racking strains; and the invention has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device of this charactor.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts of the bed-stay and its connection with the bedstead, all as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

' Figure 1 is a plan view of a bedstead, with a couple of the slats broken away and with my improved'stay applied; and Fig. 2 isa perspective View of the center coupling and lock of the device drawn to a larger scale.

The bed-stay is made with fourstout wires, A A AA, which are secured at their outer ends to the four corner-posts B of the bedstead, to be braced or strengthened by the stay, and at their inner ends the wires are connected in pairs to metal blocks 0 D, which form parts of the center coupling and lock, presently described. Thewires A maybe connected to the bed-posts B.by hooking their ends into eyes fixed in the posts, as shown, or by passing screws into the posts through eyes formed on the wires, or in any other substantial manner.

To the block C there is securely connected a wire loop, E, preferably three or four inches in length, and on the outer cross-bar of this loop is hung at one end a lever, F, which is preferably provided with a series of notches,

5 f, either of which may be engaged with the end cross-bar of a wire loop, G, which is fixed to the opposite block, D. At its free end the coupling-lever F is provided with a laterallyprojecting hook, H, which is adapted to lock beneath one side of the loop E to which the lever is attached.

It is manifest that the wire loops E G need Serial No. 246,978. No model.)

not be directly connected to the stay-wires A; d

but in the preferred construction the two wires A A, leading from one end of the bedstead, and the loop E are formed from a single piece of wire, by bending it double in the center and passing both ends of it through the block 0, and soldering or otherwise securing said block to the wire at the inner end of the loop E, and from the block the two end parts of the wire are diverged to the two corners of the bedstead. The other two stay-wires A A and the loop G are likewise formed of one piece of wire passed through and secured to the block D. This method of making the four stay-wires and two loops from two pieces of wire is quite inexpensive and very satisfactory, because it assures great strength with few parts. V

The operation of the device is very simple and effective, as it is only necessary to slip the end of the loop G into one of the lever- Iiotches fwhile the lever and adjacent parts are in the relative positions indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and then press the free end of the lever downward in direction of the arrow and into the couplingloop E, and then catch the hook H beneath one side of the loop, and the fastening is complete. As the lever is pressed down, the staywires A are put in tension to powerfully draw the posts 13 of the head and foot boards of the bedstead tightly to its side rails, and when the coupling is locked the entire bedstead will be very rigidly held together. The stay-wires and coupling pass beneath the bed-slats I, and are entirely concealed by the bedclOthes.

It is obvious that a device other than the hook H may be used to lock the free end of the lever F to the loop E; but the hook is a preferred fastening. Furthermore, there may be but one notch f in the levers; but a series of two or three notches gives a desirable adjustability to the device, and the part of the coupling to which the lever F is connected and the opposite part of the coupling which is engaged by the lever need not necessarily be in loop form, as will readily be understood.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The bed-stay consisting of two wires, each adapted to have its divergent ends connected ICO to the bed-posts and formed into a loop at its inner portion, upon which loop is secured a block, and the lever hung at its one end upon the connecting portion of one loop and pro 5 vided with a notched upper edge engaged by the other loop, said lever also having at its free end upon one side a hook which engages with the aforesaid loop, substantially as set forth. IO 2. The combination, in a bed-stay, of Wires A A A A, connected to the corners of the bedstead, blocks 0 D on the Wires, loops E G, connected to the blocks, a lever, F, hung; to the loop E, and a. latch device locking the free end of the lever to the loop '13, substantially 15 as herein set forth.

3. The combination, in a bed-stay, of wires A A A A, connected to the corners of the bedstead, bloeks O D on the Wires, loops E G, connected to the blocks, and a lever, F, hung to 20 the loop E and provided with a hook, H, adapted to engage the loop E, substantially as herein set forth.

eAnn BETHEA.

\Vilnesses:

E. L. RArNns, R. L. TARREN. 

